Rising Star Ranch

The Legacy

In 1994 Rob and Desiree Sweeney bought land in Northeast Washington, just outside of Spokane.  At the time, Rob was riding bulls professionally and making a career out of it.  After he retired from rodeo, they both decided to invest in some rodeo livestock.  Specifically, they purchased a few bucking bred heifers.  From there the herd only grew.

Where We Are Now

The Future

 The Commercial Steer Operation

After too long we started raising a beef steer or two every year for food consumption.  This led to eventually raising steers for friends and family.  In 2020 we processed approximately 20-25 head of steers through the ranch along with having about 15 head of breeding cattle.  Having this many of steers brought some challenges, but we managed to coordinate all the butcher dates and locations with the customers.  After that year, we lowered the number of commercial steers, that we process, to a more manageable number.  While currently we don't process a large number of steers, that doesn't mean we won't increase that number in the future.

Cow & Calf Operation

This is where it all started.  The original herd was bred for the intent of raising bucking bulls.  Over the course of several years the herd slowly grew to approximately 10 head of cows/ heifers.

This venture is tied in with the Commercial steer side of things.  As the demand for steers grew, we decided to invest in a three Black Angus cows to help us meet the demand for the steers.  While we started with only 3, this number grew every year and is at the point where it supplies the majority of our steers.  

The Bucking Bull Operation

This part of our operation holds a significant amount of our passion.  With Bull Riding being a rich part of family history, the Bucking Bulls are special to us.

Working With Other Local Ranchers